My Escape From Reality
by StrawberryPajamas
Summary: Jim noticed two things right away when he came back from Stamford. One: that Ryan didn't deserve to sit in his old desk, and Two: that Pam had become oddly obsessed with the Harry Potter books. Post-merger AU oneshot Pam/Jim angst ensues


**Warning: Only fans of both The Office and Harry Potter are allowed beyond this point!**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing at all

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Jim noticed two things right away when he came back from Stamford. One: that Ryan didn't deserve to sit in his old desk, and Two: that Pam had become oddly obsessed with the Harry Potter books.

~/~

He was just walking through the break room one day when he saw her; sitting alone, in a far corner table, her face set and her eyes deeply concentrated on a book held delicately in her fingers. When Jim headed over to the soda machine, she turned a page, not acknowledging that he was even there.

Jim looked over at her. It took a few seconds before he recognized the familiar insignia on the cover of what she was reading.

Jim turned away, chuckling to himself. He assumed she was reading it so she could mess with Dwight, a master prank perhaps he himself could be in on with her. The thought made him smile.

~/~

Two weeks later, Jim caught Pam and Dwight having a heated debate in the kitchen over whether or not Remus Lupin was considered a noble wizard. Dwight was standing at the counter, and Pam was sitting at the table, her legs crossed with a cup of tea in her hand.

"He was the best Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher Harry ever had!" Dwight insisted.

"But he married Tonks, when he didn't even _love _her." Pam pointed out.

"He did love her – he just wanted to protect her."

"Yeah, by running away from her and their unborn child with Harry and his friends."

"Well, he came back, didn't he? And he made Harry godfather. Smart choice, too, I might add..."

It should have been funny to watch, but for some reason it wasn't. Jim walked silently away from the scene, confused and slightly sad.

~/~

Jim wished fervently that he was back in his own desk. He watched jealously as Ryan kept glancing up at reception, and every once and awhile, Ryan grinned to himself and Jim knew that Pam was looking back at him. It killed Jim not to turn around and look at Pam too, hoping that maybe she would smile at him as well. She didn't even talk to him anymore, and that depressed the hell out of him. Maybe this new reading kick had something to do with him, he didn't know. Jim felt selfish when he thought about it. But, then again, he had unloaded everything to her at Casino Night last May. If he could just talk to her again...

Jim shook his head, breaking away from his thoughts. He had Karen now. That was the way things were going to stay. He quickly got back to work.

~/~

Pam didn't even draw anymore, Jim realized. Two months back in Scranton, and not a single picture he saw her draw from behind her desk. All of her breaks and free time in the office was spent at her desk or in the break room, her nose buried in one of J.K. Rowling's novels. Jim hardly found a moment to talk to her, she was so engrossed with whatever she was reading now. That part was probably the worst of all.

~/~

Jim and Karen were walking casually down the street one evening when they passed a Barnes & Noble. There was a display of the latest Harry Potter book in the window, and Karen started bubbling excitedly when she noticed it, and dragged him in so she could buy a copy.

Jim couldn't help but curl his lip when he plucked one from a nearby stack, examining the dust-jacket. "Why do you even like these books? They're kid's stories..."

"Have you ever even read them?" Karen asked, snatching a copy and paging through it eagerly.

Jim shook his head, setting it back.

"You should," Karen began fishing through her purse, looking for her wallet. "They're addictive. I was babysitting my neighbor's daughter once, and she had left _The Sorcerer's Stone_ lying around after she went to bed. I started reading it, and couldn't put it down." She grinned up at her boyfriend.

As Karen paid for her copy, Jim just stood to the side, his eyes straying over to the display near the window once again. No doubt, it was staring back at him and laughing its ass off...

~/~

Jim walked into the break room, noticing right away that Pam was sitting in a corner by the vending machines, _The Chamber of Secrets _clamped in her fingers and her ankles crossed comfortably under her chair and elbows propped on the table. The moment Jim walked in, Pam suddenly grinned.

For a wild moment, Jim thought she was smiling because he was there. His heart raced.

But no... it was something she read in that stupid book. His heart rate returned to normal.

~/~

On a Thursday at the end of January, a rumor went around that Ryan and Kelly had broken up. This news didn't really upset Jim much until a Wednesday, two weeks later.

Pam was giggling, and Jim was near enough to the kitchen to hear her clearly. He peered through the blinds and noticed Pam and Ryan both sitting and talking at the table. Jim only caught bits and pieces of what they were saying, but it sounded like the two were having a conversation about how _The Prisoner of Azkaban _was one of J.K Rowling's better books.

He didn't know what was making him feel so disconcerted: that he didn't understand a word of what they were talking about, or that he didn't even _want_ to understand a word of what they were talking about.

Jim turned away, and as he heard Ryan's laughter ring out from behind him, Jim had a terrible feeling that it was neither of those things.

~/~

Much to Jim's dismay, Harry Potter Fever seemed to spread throughout the entire office. Not only Pam, but Oscar, Kevin, and Kelly were spotted, all sitting around the same table, discussing _The Deathly Hallows_. Once or twice, Jim actually spotted Toby in the bathroom, leaning against the counter, his nose buried in _The Half-Blood Prince. _Michael was found to be holed up in his office for hours at a time, but every time he emerged, he would suddenly burst out a stream of nonsense words and wave a "wand" toward the nearest person, who was usually Pam.

"Expecto Patronum!" Michael yelped happily, practically jabbing a pencil up Pam's nose.

Pam would merely stare at him, not bothering to correct him on the fact that she was not a dementor.

~/~

As the weeks went by, Jim finally spotted less and less of Pam reading, but that fact didn't necessarily make him feel better. All of her free time now was spent hanging out with Ryan at his desk. Jim always hated it when they would do that – did they have no respect for his personal space? They were obviously dating, but Jim doubted they disclosed their relationship to HR, for Michael hadn't exactly announced it from the rooftops yet.

Jim watched as a smiling Pam set her hand on Ryan's forearm, and noticed the way Ryan's eyes lit up when she grinned at him. Jim couldn't stay there – he got up and walked over to Karen.

~/~

Jim was sitting alone in the break room, sipping coffee and looking over several client lists in front of him. Pam suddenly walked in.

She was holding a book to her hand. It was a small paperback, obviously old, worn, and read many times over.

Jim looked up when she arrived, and immediately noticed what she was holding didn't have a distinctive emblem on the cover.

"What, no Harry Potter?" Jim asked without thinking, unable to hold back a small sneer.

Pam froze in her tracks, staring at Jim. She finally glanced down at her book. "What? Oh, um... yeah."

Jim didn't respond, so Pam continued on. "It's _The Green__ Mile_ by Stephen King. Ryan lent it to me; he said I'd like it..."

A lump grew in Jim's throat. "Well, I'm sure he'd know that about you."

Even _he_ knew how much more sarcastic than considerate he sounded.

But, Jim knew, one of the many wonderful things about Pam was that she rarely got upset. Instead of appearing offended by his stony demeanor, she secured a sympathetic look on her face as she moved toward him, pulling out a chair, and settling herself down. Jim merely watched her.

"Jim." Pam took a deep breath, exhaling through her nose. "I really think you need to know that... well..." she hesitated. "Ryan and I are... well, we're seeing each other."

Jim knew all about this, but it didn't stop him from wanting to punch something anyway.

"I know." he managed, glaring down at his nameless client folders.

Pam's eyes widened, looking slightly surprised. "Oh."

There was silence.

Pam quietly made a move to get up, but Jim suddenly asked her something that, afterward, he really wished he hadn't:

"So is he the one who talked you out of your dream?"

Pam froze in her place, halfway between sitting and standing, her eyes wide while staring at Jim. He himself was shocked by his own cold bluntness, and felt almost ashamed for it. But he kept his eyes unreadable as they stared at Pam's face.

Pam opened her mouth after a moment and spoke, her eyebrows knitted. "Um... I'm not exactly sure what you mean."

"No?" Jim raised an eyebrow, the voice coming out of his mouth sounding snobbish and rather condescending. He sort of resented that he even spoke like that to her, but, he rationalized, Pam sort of deserved it.

Pam fully straightened up now, looking down at Jim still seated at the table. Her eyes appeared suspicious. "No."

Jim tried to look unconcerned as he turned back to his file folders. "Why don't you ask J.K. Rowling? I'm sure she would know what I'm talking about." he said coolly.

He counted a full two seconds before he looked back up into Pam's eyes, and noticed that they were wide with hurt and confusion. Rather than feeling upset by this, Jim felt a small wave of grim satisfaction wash over him. He had suffered for months at her hand, watching her drift away from everything that made her who she was, noticing how she seemed to be falling for the temp rather than for him. It actually felt good to start dishing out the pain instead of being on its receiving end.

Pam and Jim stared at each other for a long moment before Pam started to back away. "Fine, then. If you're going to be difficult..." her voice was shaking in anger, and she let the sentence hang suspended between them. She spun and her heel and stalked out of the break room, leaving Jim alone with only the file folders for company.

~/~

Tension grew between the receptionist and the salesman over the next week, with them communicating mostly in dirty looks and pointed silences. The people of the office could hardly believe that these two, who had once been the best of friends, were now so cold toward each other. No one was exactly sure about what had sparked this squabble these two people were having, but most didn't want to really explore the subject. They preferred to avoid Pam or Jim when they were looking particularly vindictive than actually talk about it.

~/~

Jim had just logged off his computer, stood up, and stretched, ready to leave for the day. Others around him were bustling around their desks, wrapping up anything else they had to do. Jim caught Karen's eye and nodded, indicating that it was time to go. She smiled and nodded back, standing up as well.

Jim turned around to grab his coat off the hook, and immediately noticed that Pam was standing up at her desk, logging off her computer. Scowling, Jim avoided her gaze as he walked toward the coat rack.

"Good night, Jim." Pam said when Jim had removed his jacket from the hook, and he looked up at her. There was a small crease in her brow, but her eyes and tone of voice seemed sincere. Jim looked down and noticed _Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows_ was clasped to her chest. Seeing it seemed to claw at Jim's insides.

"Good night to you too, Pam." Jim said, slipping his coat through his arms and scowling. "Hope you have fun reading that book when you get home tonight."

Karen walked up toward Jim, ready to leave for the day with him.

Pam, instead of looking hurt, had an odd, stony look masking her eyes. "Well, I guess you could say that you have your distractions," her eyes flicked over to Karen. "and I have mine."

Jim could have sworn Pam gripped the book she was holding even tighter before turning on her heel and walking around her desk toward Ryan, who was standing at his desk, waiting for her.

_The End_

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**A/N: I decided to write this story about the Harry Potter novels because I know what it feels like to want a distraction from all the stresses of everyday life. Harry Potter got me through many difficult times, for which I will never forget. I wanted to portray Pam as a person who was stressed and heartbroken over Jim leaving. She wanted to move on with her life, so she discovered the books and sort of used that to find herself once again.**

**Even if you're not a fan of Harry Potter, I hope you liked it anyway:) Please review!**

**Love, StrawPahj  
**


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